Sacramento Railyards - The New Downtown

[TowerDistrict]

Originally Posted by Phillip

I'd go to see what someone named "Essence Hill" looks like.

She'll be standing next to Camille Road.

[Schmoe]

Well? Did you go???

[austinjfox]

whats going on at the railyards currently? last i read the developers were considering just burying the contaminated dirt.

[econgrad]

Originally Posted by austinjfox

whats going on at the railyards currently? last i read the developers were considering just burying the contaminated dirt.

I might be wrong, but I think the burying the contaminated dirt was not the railyards, but were the smaller railyards near Sac City, Land Park area...

[ltsmotorsport]

Yeah, that was Curtis Park, not Downtown.

[austinjfox]

o. okay i didnt know that. thanks for clarifying that for me!

[Trojan]

I'm trying to find some 'futuristic' pictures of the Railyards and the HSR station that I saw here on the boards about a month ago. I've looked through every thread but I can't find them! Anyone know where they are? They were computer images of basically downtown Sacramento in 2008++++.

[Fusey]

Here are the ones from the CHSRA:

Here's the vid:
http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/gallery.aspx

And the stills:
http://www.nc3d.com/index.php?option...127&Itemid=115

[innov8]

November, 2008

Dear Friends of The Railyards

In spite of the current economic slowdown, the downtown Sacramento Railyards redevelopment project remains on schedule, providing a bright light for the local economy. Plans for infrastructure at the site are underway and construction workers will soon be hired to build new streets, sidewalks, bridges, overpasses, underground utilities and bike paths. After voter passage of Propositions IB and 1C in 2006, bond money is now flowing into public projects like The Railyards and beginning in 2009 downtown commuters and office workers will begin to notice increased activity at the site.

RFQ Process Underway
A request for qualifications (RFQ) for engineering design services for 5th Street, 6th Street, Railyards Boulevard and the 7th Street bicycle/pedestrian tunnel is now available. All RFQs must be received by Thomas Enterprises by 4:00 p.m. November 7, 2008. Visit the new Project Opportunities page at www.sacramentorailyards.com to obtain a copy of the RFQ.

The final filing date for design-build services related to the Sacramento Railyards 5th Street Parking Garage RFQ has been extended to Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. PST. Questions can be directed to Project Manager and Associate Architect David Morgan at 916-808-8425 or dmorgan@cityofsacramento.org

The City anticipates releasing the Concept Design Report for the 5th Street Garage in December.

Rail~Volution in Sacramento
Building livable communities with transit is the goal of the non-profit organization Rail~Volution which recently held its national conference in San Francisco. As part of the event, a group of participants rode to Sacramento aboard Amtrak's Capitol Corridor rail service and visited The Railyards for a presentation at the historic Paint Shop (at right) before touring the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.
In the Community
Thomas Enterprises will conduct a presentation for the California Redevelopment Association Brownfield Roundtable on December 4.

Recently, representatives of Thomas Enterprises met with interested members of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce to outline the status of The Railyards project and discuss steps to become involved in upcoming contract bids.

Railyard Recognition
The Railyards project continues to receive recognition for its innovative design and potential as one of the nation's largest smart-growth communities. The Sacramento Valley Chapter of the American Planning Association recently presented the City of Sacramento and consultant Design, Community & Environment with a Comprehensive Planning Award in the Large Jurisdiction Category for the Sacramento Railyards Specific Plan. Judges noted the plan is tailored to the locality and well integrated with the adjacent urban pattern.

Three local Cosumnes River College students will compete in the US Green Building Council 2008 Natural Design Competition later this month in Boston. The team created innovative smart growth designs for a proposed high-density, mixed-use section of the Railyards in the Depot District and were selected to compete in the first round of the national competition. Best wishes to Michael Lee, Ming Yee Hsu and Alex Villalobos who were mentored by local HMC architects.

To subscribe to news letter email: info@sacramentorailyards.com.
Thomas Enterprises | 431 I Street, Suite 202 | Sacramento | CA | 95814

[innov8]

Pollution clean up grants given to railyards, other projects
Sacramento Business Journal
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The California Pollution Control Financing Authority approved $53.8 million in grants and loans to clean up polluted sites in 11 counties, including a $9.8 million in grants for redevelopment projects in Sacramento.

S. Thomas Enterprises of Sacramento LLC plans a 12,000-unit residential and commercial complex at the 240-yard railyards site, formerly home to Southern Pacific Railroad. Thomas Enterprises received $5 million of the $14.75 million it requested from the financing authority.

Petrovich Development LLC received a $4 million grant to clean up the railyards site near Sacramento City College and build the Curtis Park Village residential and commercial development.

Capital Station 65 LLC wants to build a mixed-use development with 752 housing units and 42,000 square foot of retail space at Township 9 on Richards Boulevard. The company received $550,000 for the project.

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency received a $218,150 grant for La Valentina, a 64-unit project planned in the Alkali Flats neighborhood.

The money came from Proposition 1C, the $2.85 billion housing bond measure approved by voters in 2006.

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sa...7/daily41.html

[JeffZurn]

I don't know, if anybody received the Railyards newsletter this morning, there is a YouTube video of the Railyards I found pretty interesting.

www.youtube.com/Railyards2008

[Cynikal]

Who picked the soundtrack? Cmon, lets showcase a new and innovative project by a crappy Journey song from the 80's. And now I can't get it out of my head. Arg!

[Majin]

Most of the interesting stuff in the video is lifted from the HSR rendering, which is a fraud on Sacramento in itself. I hope that projects goes down in flames.

[Ryan@CU]

Originally Posted by Cynikal

Who picked the soundtrack? Cmon, lets showcase a new and innovative project by a crappy Journey song from the 80's.

I was thinking the same thing.

[econgrad]

Originally Posted by Cynikal

Who picked the soundtrack? Cmon, lets showcase a new and innovative project by a crappy Journey song from the 80's. And now I can't get it out of my head. Arg!

I couldn't even finish it because of that lame ass song..

[tronblue]

What should it have been tesla? Maybe the deftones, but never Cake. Journey is perfect for how cheesy sentimental that video was. Oh yea and lets reduce our carbon foot print like our now exiting Mayor says. I had an idea a while back about about how people should be able to transport themselves through the rail yards. Let me be clear I'm not being serious at all, but what about not having streets but only small grade rail tracks and everyone has their own little maintenance track car. You know like the ones that train nerds buy and restore and then they get together and ride on mostly abandoned train lines. the things go like 5 miles an hour i think. But just think of the lack of carbon foot prints. Plus we can attract people to the rail yards by advertising it as: "The first theme park that you can really live in." They could also put in a huge stocked pond by that fishing store. I only thought this because of those unauthentic L.A. bright light cartoon renderings that first came out years ago.

[leftopolis]

Looks like The Railyards is going to finally show some serious progress in the coming months. Big news:

Railyards will create 3,000 jobs in 2009

Sacramento Business Journal - by Michael Shaw
The developer of the 244-acre Sacramento Railyards project said Wednesday that it will bring approximately 3,000 new jobs to the region in 2009 due to grants from propositions 1B and 1C, housing, infrastructure and transportation bond programs, as well as other local and federal funding.

Suheil Totah, Thomas Enterprises Inc. vice president of development, said construction teams will be visible on the infill site within months and that surveyors, engineers, planners and architects are already at work.

The Railyards work includes bridges, roads, overpasses, bikepaths and underground utilities.

The Railyards project aims to create a new neighborhood of mixed-use, high-density housing, with entertainment and retail venues, a transportation hub, offices, a public market and open space.

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by Majin

Most of the interesting stuff in the video is lifted from the HSR rendering, which is a fraud on Sacramento in itself. I hope that projects goes down in flames.

I agree witht the fraud part and though i expect HSR to be a multibillion dollar boondoggle that will never reach Sacramento, I hope there are enough scraps leftover to help Sacramento to finally finance the Intermodal station expansion and the historic depot moved back...

[wburg]

http://www.sacbee.com/626/story/1600330.html

The Public Eye: Sacramento may have paid way too much for depot
ShareThis
Published: Saturday, Feb. 07, 2009 | Page 1B

THE MONEY TRAIL

Sacramento may have paid way too much for depot

Two years ago, when times were better, the city gave Thomas Enterprises a financial assist to help the developer close on its purchase of the downtown railyard from Union Pacific.

In emergency session, the City Council agreed to pay $55 million for the historic I Street depot and 8 acres.

Although there wasn't evidence the land and station were actually worth that much, the parties said they'd settle up later through negotiations or mediation.

Now the city faces its own $50 million budget gap, and two appraisals found the land is worth far less than the city paid.

"My view is we overpaid and we really didn't have a system in place to get our money back," Councilman Kevin McCarty said. "It's a lot of money we're talking about, and we're not holding the pedal to the metal."

Councilman Rob Fong agreed, saying the city appraisals concluded it overpaid by at least $40 million. "We need to move quickly on this, and I don't know what's taking so long," Fong said.

Assistant City Manager Marty Hanneman said the issue is going to mediation. "If mediation isn't successful, we'll go into binding arbitration," he said. "Our goal is to have this done in June or July."

He said the feds required two appraisals, which slowed the process.

Most of the $55 million came from Measure A transportation funds and couldn't be used to fill the city's budget gap, Hanneman said. He estimated $5 million could be appropriated for other purposes.

– Mary Lynne Vellinga. Send tips to moneytrail@sacbee.com

Considering that Thomas Enterprises paid about $225,000 an acre (an estimated $75 million for 250 acres,) $55 million for 8 acres does seem a bit steep.

[Cynikal]

If these funds came from Measure A and can't be used in the general fund, then why are we in a hurry?